Can we say that, following Obama's speech, Hillary's seems weak?

[Joe the Revelator]

Because man, this speech is doing nothing for me at all. Obviously, you wouldn't expect it to, but her concession speech in Iowa actually wasn't that bad.

This one is just boring.

[ananda]

1. She's giving a good speech, but..

.. her voice is flat.

I like Obama's fire and charisma.

I just wish they were less corporate.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

44. she was extremely tired

she looked like she was ready for her bed!

[JonathanZ1982]

2. I think the news story tomorrow will be that...

Obama will get more momentum out of his 2nd place than Clinton will get from her win.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes

~

[JonathanZ1982]

15. well, not really considering I would prefer Clinton :/ nt

[JackORoses]

49. did your heart dream last night's shenanigans?

[Yukari Yakumo]

35. Dream on.

Everyone was saying Obama was going to crush HRC. Didn't happen.

[AtlMike]

3. Hillary speech

I liked the line of finding her voice. It really does seem like she has since the debate. I'm back to the fence. I could support any of the top 3 Dems.

[Occam Bandage]

4. I was hoping for more electricity, given her astounding win and recent forays into emotion.

Still, not terrible. She'll never be the orator Obama is, and we know that.

[elixir2]

It was exactly what I expected. Thanking the people who helped her win in NH...

I didn't expect a roadmap to peace. At least not now.

[AtomicKitten]

5. I'm amazed any of them are still standing.

This grueling condensed primary is brutal.

[quinnox]

6. Yes, I admit Obama's speech was much better

However Hillary's speech was good, but not spectacular.

[comradebillyboy]

7. no, your personal bias is showing nt

[Mojambo]

8. It's not really fair to compare the two

She's not in his oratory league.

Few people are.

[Horse with no Name]

9. Obama has excellent oratory skills

Hard act to follow.

[Catherine Vincent]

10. Her speech was great.

So was Obama's and Edwards.

[1corona4u]

11. You can say it, doesn't make it a fact.

[Joe the Revelator]

14. Did I ever say that it did?

Put you fucking laser shield down

[DemocratSinceBirth]

12. Obama Is A Great Orator

We will see if it carries the day...

[goldcanyonaz]

13. Quit being such a tosser!

[gulliver]

16. Honestly, Hillary's was better. Obama had a much, much better...

...start and middle. But he made a goof, I think, saying to the people who had worked for and supported him "This is your night." (!) Then right after that, he trailed off into preacher, "change, hope, yes-you-can" mediocrity. He was persuasive, impressive, and magnanimous at first, truly charismatic with good solid content. Then he finished with the end of Layla.

[FrenchieCat]

21. Well he didn't say "God Bless You" like Hillary did......

So I'm not sure who the preacher is here.

[gulliver]

38. True. He better watch that.

It's not that I like it myself. He may have to wear it a little on his sleeve. If there is one way for him to counter the stupid "He's a Muslim" crap (wrong in about eight ways, but not dead by a long shot) it's to throw in a "God Bless You" or two. Hill's really kind of a devout type I understand, so she has no problem saying something like that.

But yes, it was weird to hear her say it. And I do think it means something.

[truebrit71]

17. Very boring and uninspiring...sort of like the candidate herself...

...

[Proud2BAmurkin]

18. silky show pony vs hard working reliable competent plow horse

?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

20. A Matter Of Styles

Gale Sayers or Earl Campbell...

[krabigirl]

19. I didn't like either of the speeches.

[NoPasaran]

22. One can, but one isn't required to

Why don't you change the channel? I'm surer there are some cartoons on.

[youthere]

23. No. You can't. Not tonite. You can think it...

but you can't say it because you just end up looking like the proverbial turd in the punchbowl. Be gracious. Let the Hillary supporters savor this night. They've earned it. And tomorrow I tell you that you are welcome to critique her speech as you will...but tonight you will let them be happy and NOT try to diminish the win for Hillary supporters and women everywhere.

[Occam Bandage]

26. Well, there were many, many threads

expressing disgust with Obama's stellar Iowa speech. This is, in comparison, well-reasoned and respectful.

[youthere]

36. And if it were Obama's victory night I'd feel the same way...just like I did last week.

[Cha]

46. Yeah, the venom was just

dripping but ..no one better say anything negative about hillary or the squawk box gets turned on.

[shayes51]

24. No, we can't say that.

[Onlooker]

25. They seemed exhausted

Edwards speech was the best.

[alcibiades_mystery]

27. Hillary's speech is pretty good...here's why Obama's sounds better

In the black oratorical/sermonic tradition, the speaker establishes a rhythm with the crowd. This is clear in Obama's speech patterns. The thing that ruins most political speeches is the crowd interruption for applause. Most speakers don't know how to manage it, and it completely ruins the rhythm of the speech. In Hillary's case tonight, she had a couple of nice clauses that used anaphora (beginning consecutive clauses with the same word or phrase). The crowd applauded after every clause, completely destroying the rhythmic effect of the anaphora. That doesn't happen with Obama, or with other good African American speakers, because they are much more used to managing crowd response as a result of the call and response tradition. They maintain rhythmic qualities of the speech much more effectively because they know when to let a crowd interrupt with applause and when to plow through.

(And no, I'm not saying "black folks have more rhythm" as some kind of NATURAL fact. I'm saying the social and historical organization of African American oratory pays more attention to the way speakers and audience interact to create rhythm in speeches. It's a very difficult task to manage, and - in my view - accounts for some of the amazed white reaction to black oratory, since white cultures - with the exception of some white Southern sermonic traditions - simply don't have the same sorts of structures.)

[cali]

28. We actuallly agree on something aside from who we want to see

as nominee. His speech was magnificent. Here pedestrian.

[William769]

29. Do you ever not stop the spinning?

[Mountainman]

30. No, she is a different kind of speaker. That's all there is to it.

[CyberPieHole]

31. Obama spoke?

I must have fallen asleep while he was talking about Dreamin' & Hopin' & Wishin'.

[bluedawg12]

32. No! McCain's was weak and stilted.

Face it- HRC is HRC and not BHO. Both have their strengths and weaknesses.

[Clintonista2]

33. Sour grapes!

[depakid]

34. I guess one could say that if they've been Svengali-ized....

[loveangelc]

37. yes.

[Texas_Kat]

39. No, you're still spinning

Sit down, you'll get dizzy.

[Sparkly]

40. A different style. Not better not worse. nt

[Adelante]

47. Obama is the better speaker, I think

Clinton is the better debater. It's different organizational and delivery talents, as well as different styles, imo.

[Captain Hilts]

41. She'll never beat him in speech-making. But she praised the other candidates. nt

[Marrah_G]

42. I thought it was just fine

I liked Edwards speech the best. Obama speeches just don't inspire me at all.

[midlife_mo_Jo]

43. I thought her speech was very good

[grantcart]

45. Hillary won the expectation game on the speeches too

It was Hillary's best speech in her life much better than anything she has ever done before. Not as good as Obama but since everyone expected him to be great she seemed to have the greatest growth

[NastyRiffraff]

48. Well, YOU can certainly say it

Just don't include everybody in your "we"

I thought her speech was excellent, hit the right tone. As was Obama's and Edwards'

[THUNDER HANDS]

50. I thought McCain's speech was the best of the night

but then again, I also sniff glue, so I might be biased.